APA-Niamey (Niger) – The deposed president of Niger still languishes in detention with members of his immediate family.
In Niger, Salem Mohamed Bazoum is regaining his freedom. The 22-year-old student, who has been detained with his parents since the coup of 26 July, was provisionally released by the military court in Niamey on Monday 8 January.
The son of Niger’s ousted leader, who has yet to stand trial, is accused of “plotting to undermine the authority or security of the state.”
While the international community has long called for the release of President Bazoum and his detained relatives, the Togolese government, which has played an active role in the affair, welcomed it as a humanitarian gesture.
“We take this opportunity to thank General Abdourahamane Tiani (head of the junta), the members of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP, as the junta is known) and Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine for their firm determination and commitment to work towards a reconciliation that is the basis for lasting peace and an effective resumption of development in the brotherly country of Niger,” the Togolese foreign ministry said in a statement.
Niger’s national television later showed images of President Bazoum’s son shaking hands with the junta’s Prime Minister, Mr Zeine. In another, he sits next to Togo’s foreign minister, Robert Dussey, both smiling. According to some reports, Salem Mohamed Bazoum then flew to Lomé, the Togolese capital.
At its last summit in Abuja, Nigeria, on 10 December, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) made the lifting of economic and political sanctions against Niger conditional on the release of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family and the establishment of a short transition timetable to allow a rapid civilian return to power.
ECOWAS has reversed its position after several months of demanding the reinstatement of President Bazoum and threatening military intervention backed by Western countries such as France. The prime minister of the deposed president of Niger was the chair at the last summit of the regional bloc, before the ECOWAS Commission issued a communiqué a few days later officially recognising the coup in the Sahelian country.
“The summit of 10 December recognised that the government of Mohamed Bazoum had in fact been overthrown by a military coup,” ECOWAS said, adding that it was open to dialogue with the junta in Niger.
ODL/ac/lb/as/APA